From George Washington to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 20 January 1794

To the United States Senate and House of Representatives

United States January 20th 1794.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives.

Having already laid before you a Letter of the 16th of August 1793, from the Secretary
of State to our Minister at Paris; stating the conduct and urging the recal, of the
Minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of France;1 I now
communicate to you, that his conduct has been unequivocally disapproved; and that the
strongest assurances have been given, that his recal should be expedited without
delay.2

Go: Washington

LS, DNA: RG 46, Third Congress, 1793–95, Senate
Records of Legislative Proceedings, President’s Messages; DS (in Edmund
Randolph’s writing), DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous Letters;
LB, DNA: RG 233, Third Congress, 1793–95, House
Records of Legislative Proceedings, Journals; LB, DLC:GW. The cover of the draft is addressed to “Colo.
Hamilton & General Knox,” with instructions that “The bearer will take the letter
from the one to the other gentleman.” Alexander Hamilton’s initials and Henry Knox’s
signature appear on the draft under the word “approved,” which Hamilton added beneath
the text of the message. Randolph then enclosed the draft with a brief cover letter to
GW of 19 Jan. that reads: “E. Randolph has the honor of inclosing to the President, a
message, concurred in by all the gentlemen” (DNA: RG 59, Miscellaneous
Letters).

2. Morris’s first letter of 10 Oct. and that of 19 Oct. 1793 to former secretary of
state Thomas Jefferson revealed that the French government had agreed to recall Genet
(ASP, Foreign Relations description begins Walter Lowrie et al., eds. American State Papers. Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington, D.C., Gales and Seaton, 1832–61. description ends , 1:372, 374–75). William Culver, who
commanded the sloop Hannah, arrived at Philadelphia with these
dispatches in mid-January (Gazette of the United States and Evening Advertiser [Philadelphia], 14 Jan. 1794). For the official notice of Genet’s
recall, see Provisional Executive Council of France to GW, 15 Nov. 1793.

Reference

Cite as

“From George Washington to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 20 January 1794,” Founders Online, National Archives, last modified June 29, 2017, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-15-02-0076. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 15, 1 January–30 April 1794, ed. Christine Sternberg Patrick. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, p. 97.]

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